


Brave Dawn

by blynninja



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-27
Packaged: 2018-04-24 01:45:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,728
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4900762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blynninja/pseuds/blynninja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Princess Yona is to be married but doesn't want to. Hilarity and drama ensue. Brave with some Yona tweaks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by LC Li’s _Of Chivalry and Napping Knights._  
>  And _Brave_ and Merida, of course.  
>  Possibly OOC, but that happens.  
> A few switches in age and, like, rules, but it’s AU, friends.  
> 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expositional, as first chapters tend to be.

The three other kingdoms were going to present suitors?

Hak had known this was coming at some point—Yona was 18, after all; it was about time—but Yona looked shocked.

“Father!” she screeched, eyes wide. “You can’t be serious!”

King Il folded his hands, taking a deep breath.

Hak was used to this, because Yona was often difficult.

In the years since her mother had been killed, Yona had become stubborn and willful in certain respects, wanting to prove that she could take care of herself. King Il was not a fan of this idea, and had tried very hard to keep her busy inside the castle with princess lessons.

But on certain days, Hak knew, King Il could not keep her within the castle walls, and she would find a way outside where she could do what she wanted.

Marriage was not something she wanted right now, Hak had observed.

As her guardian, he had been around for many of her rants outside the confines of the castle. Marriage was one of those things that she had been babbling about lately, so he was surprised that she sounded like she hadn’t seen this coming.

Maybe she had hoped that it would have waited a few years.

“Yona,” King Il began as Princess Yona slouched in her seat, “This is not something to debate. The other kingdoms have already accepted our invitation.”

“ _Your_ invitation,” Yona muttered angrily, and Hak bit back a smirk.

“Please, Yona,” King Il implored. “Be civil when they arrive.”

Yona huffed, blowing her bangs out of her eyes, and asked, “Fine. May I be excused now?”

King Il sighed. “Yes.”

Yona stood, rushing from the room, and King Il drew a hand over his eyes, sighing again. “Am I wrong, Hak?”

“Your Majesty?” Hak frowned.

“Am I wrong to push her into marriage? I only want what is best for her.”

Hak shuffled his feet, clutching his spear.

How was he supposed to respond to that?

He was saved the trouble when three troublemakers burst through the door: Yona’s little brothers, Zeno, Kija, and Jae-ha.

The castle healer and the boys’ self-appointed “arch enemy,” Yoon, followed right after them, panting, “Come back here, you three little—”

When Yoon realized where he was, he froze, bowing hastily. “I apologize, Your Majesty! But the boys—”

King Il waved a hand, and Yoon left with another hasty bow.

The boys exchanged glances that Hak recognized as more trouble, and he shifted his spear to his other hand as casually as possible.

Zeno giggled, poking his brothers, and the trio zipped out of the room to who-knew-where.

Hak frowned. Dumb kids.

“When will the delegations arrive?” he asked then, addressing King Il as informally as he dared.

“Within the week,” King Il replied tiredly, and with a wave of his hand, dismissed him. 

Hak bowed respectfully, leaving the throne room and wandering to where he knew Yona would be at a time like this.

Sure enough, she was out in the woods, at the makeshift archery range she had set up for herself in the last decade, on any days she had been free of princess duties.

She had essentially _made_ him help her, since he had been her friend before he had become her bodyguard.

She had made him promise to never tell her father what she was doing, and he had sworn it, amused that an eight-year-old little princess would work so hard to practice something her father had forbidden her from doing.

She had found a bow somewhere, and arrows, and Hak hadn’t asked from whom she had taken them. There were plenty of them around the grounds. Surely one bow wouldn’t be missed, Yona had insisted, and she had been right.

It had taken her a while to get used to the bow, and Hak had taken pity on her and shown her the proper way to hold and shoot.

Now she was pretty good, if he did say so himself. He would never admit it to her, but after a decade of practice, she was probably the best archer in the castle. Aside from him, of course. He’d been practicing since he was five. 

(But he’d never tell _her_ that.)

Right this moment, though, she was failing to make shots.

He leaned on his spear and watched her, calling out casually, “Maybe you need more practice.”

An arrow flew past his ear and he smirked.

“I’m not a target, Princess.”

Yona _humph_ ed, loosing another arrow toward a target and barely missing it.

Grumbling, she retrieved her arrows, and he walked over to hand her the one that had landed near him.

She snatched it from his hand and he asked, “Why don’t you just tell your father you don’t want to be married?”

She scowled at him. “Because he never listens to me!”

“Sure he does,” Hak replied, crossing his arms.

“Not about this,” Yona mumbled, turning back to her target.

Hak sighed, knowing she wouldn’t be discussing it with him any further, and posted himself a few feet behind her as she continued to shoot, her anger subsiding after a few more shots.

After a minute, she lowered her bow, turning to stare at him.

Hak froze. That look was never good.

“Do you get to enter this win-the-princess thing, too? You’re from Fuuga, after all.”

Hak frowned. Where had this come from?

“No,” he said simply. “This is my home now. Fuuga’s suitor will be Tae-woo, I imagine.”

“You know him?” Yona asked, blinking.

“We’re cousins. Our fathers were brothers.”

“Oh.”

Yona was silent for a minute, and then asked, “Is he a good person?”

Hak frowned briefly. “I haven’t seen him since I moved here, but I guess so. Why do you ask?”

Yona chewed on her bottom lip for a second before replying, “Just curious.”

“Well, if you’re done taking your anger out on your hay bales, you should probably get back to the castle,” Hak said quickly, spinning his spear back into his other hand.

Yona gave him a funny look but did as he suggested, trudging back to the castle after stashing her bow and arrows in a hiding spot, rambling about how unfair it was to be forced to choose a husband this way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know technically the princess is supposed to leave and be Lady whatever but seriously? Bleh. I want Yona to rule her own darn kingdom. And also technically Hak is from Kouka now, having renounced that royal-relation thing to become her bodyguard. And they kind of mention it in the anime, that Soo-won would be king of Kouka if he married Yona.  
> It made sense in my head, okay?


	2. Introductions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which delegations from the other three kingdoms arrive and Yona schemes a little.

A week later, the delegations from the three kingdoms were arriving, and Yona was grumbling for the umpteenth time.

“Yona, please,” King Il reminded her. “We must be gracious to our guests.”

Yona humphed, fidgeting with her hair, as the boys bounced around the throne room, play-fighting until King Il gave them a significant look and they scuttled to their chairs.

Hak stood to Yona’s left as usual, trying not to yawn. This was sure to be another boring introductory meeting.

The herald announced the delegations’ arrivals, and the door flew open, startling everyone in the throne room. Yona sat up straight, the boys stopped the play-fighting they had resumed a second ago, and even King Il looked surprised.

Hak stood up straighter, watching as the three delegations marched inside rowdily, each group jostling to be the very first to reach the thrones.

Hak scanned the crowd for Mundok and Tae-woo, locating them in a second. He nodded quickly at his cousin, who rolled his eyes back at him. Clearly he was unimpressed with this idea of marrying a princess.

The delegations stopped, bowing respectfully, and King Il stood to address them.

Hak tuned him out, watching the crowd as the king spoke.

The delegation from Saika was looking smug, like they were going to be the ones to win Yona’s hand.

Hak smirked. Like their crybaby of a prince was going to be able to keep up with Yona.

The delegation from Suiko was surprising, though. Hak knew that King Joon-Gi had a daughter, but he couldn’t think of a son ever being mentioned.

“Kingdom Suiko presents prince Shin-ah,” called King Joon-Gi, stepping forward.

Shin-ah stepped forward cautiously, glancing around nervously.

“He has prevented many wars in our kingdom with his bare hands!” Joon-Gi continued boastfully, and Shin-ah stood quietly, looking incredibly shy and not saying anything as Joon-Gi continued bragging about him.

Hak glanced at Yona, who was watching Shin-ah curiously.

Well, that was a good sign, probably.

King Soo-jin of Saika stepped forward next, haughtily presenting his son, Tae-jun.

Tae-jun stepped forward eagerly, and Hak snorted quietly.

Yona glanced at him, raising an eyebrow, and he quickly resumed a respectful expression, watching Tae-jun carefully.

When Soo-jin had finished lauding Tae-jun’s efforts at something or other, Mundok stepped forward, and Hak watched his grandfather with a tiny smile, nodding at the patriarch quickly.

“Kingdom Fuuga wishes to present Prince Tae-woo.”

Tae-woo stepped forward and bowed respectfully as Mundok gave a brief introduction of Hak’s cousin’s accomplishments, leaving out the fact that Tae-woo was the firstborn of the former king, killed in a battle with Saika’s army. That wouldn’t have gone over well, despite the fact that it had been before the kingdoms had been allies.

Hak noticed that Yona was watching Tae-woo carefully, and it made him frown for just a second.

King Il stepped forward again, thanking the kings for presenting their princes.

“As you are all aware, according to Kouka’s laws, the tournament to decide the princess’s future is to be decided upon and judged by the princess herself.”

Yona perked up at that, sitting up much straighter and watching her father carefully. That had either not come up in princess lessons, or King Il had purposely kept it from Yona for some reason.

“There are to be two tasks, chosen by the princess. The firstborn of each king is allowed to compete, and whoever completes the tasks to the princess’ satisfaction shall win the right to ask for her hand.”

Hak glanced at Yona again, noting the expression on her face that said the wheels in her head were turning.

Uh oh.

“The princess shall have until tomorrow to decide on the tasks. Until then, please make yourselves at home.”

King Il bowed slightly to the other rulers, and then returned to his throne, nodding at Yona.

She stood, and Hak noticed that she did so a little too eagerly.

“Thank you all for traveling all this way. I will give you my decisions on the tasks tomorrow at noon. Until then, please feel free to rest and mingle.”

Tables were moved into the room as Yona spoke, and the men moved to let the servants position them.

Yona curtsied, which Hak had rarely seen her do willingly, and then returned to her throne, looking giddier than he had seen her in a while.

Oh boy.

King Il had noticed, too, if his glance at Yona was any indication, but she was too busy watching the delegations mingle to notice her father’s look.

And then Yona stepped off of the dais and into the crowd, and Hak had to stop himself from lunging after her out of habit.

The delegations paused, watching the princess, and she smiled brightly at them as she approached the table where Tae-woo sat, tilting his head at her.

“You and Hak are cousins, right?” he heard Yona ask, and Tae-woo nodded, smiling easily.

Hak moved from his post, keeping to the outside wall, and found a place where he could listen and keep watch better.

“We are,” Tae-woo confirmed, grinning. “I’m glad to see he still has a job.”

Yona blinked for a second, and then smiled.

“Of course. He’s a very trustworthy person, you know.”

“Oh, yeah. Hak’s always been loyal to the people who matter to him,” Tae-woo said with a funny little smile.

Yona tilted her head at him, but they were interrupted by Tae-jun shouldering his way in between them.

Tae-woo scowled, and Yona jumped, startled.

“Princess!” Tae-jun proclaimed, grinning in a way that Hak entirely distrusted.

“Prince Tae-jun,” Yona replied, backing up a little.

Tae-woo was watching Tae-jun warily, frowning.

Tae-jun reached for Yona’s hand, and she pulled away nervously, moving to stand up, but Tae-jun wasn’t giving up. He grabbed her wrist, and a rage like nothing else welled in Hak’s chest. He surged forward, intending to snap the jerk’s wrist, but someone got there first.

Prince Shin-ah’s blade landed just above Tae-jun’s wrist, and the Saika noble’s eyes went wide.

Shin-ah said nothing, but the message was clear, and Tae-jun dropped Yona’s hand, scuttling off to his father’s table, seething.

Hak was impressed.

“Did he hurt you, Princess?” Tae-woo asked immediately, reaching for Yona’s wrist.

She didn’t stop him, but looked at Shin-ah, her eyes soft.

“Thank you,” she said quietly, reaching with her other hand to shake his.

Shin-ah hesitated, and then smiled a little, shaking her hand gently.

Yona beamed.

Hak frowned. What was she thinking?

Another minute or two later, Yona stood, nodding to Tae-woo and Shin-ah, and returned to her throne, sighing heavily.

Hak returned to his spot near her, watching carefully as she slumped in her seat and then suddenly stood, which got King Il’s attention. He had been focused on something else when Tae-jun had acted out, apparently, or he would have said something.

“Yona?”

“Father, I’m going to return to my room to decide on the two tasks. May I take Hak with me?”

King Il blinked and then nodded. “Of course.”

He glanced at Hak, who nodded and followed Yona out of the throne room, watching her hands twitch the way they did when she wanted her bow. But by the time she reached her archery range, the sun would have been setting, so she was making do by fuming, he supposed.

They reached her room and Yona stomped over to her desk, pulling paper and quill onto the desktop to begin writing out ideas.

Hak perched himself at the door, watching Yona curiously.

She was agitated, he knew that much.

Having been her friend for a decade, and her bodyguard for half that, he was attuned to Yona’s moods and attitudes, but even an idiot could tell she was upset right now.

An idiot would make the mistake of asking her what was wrong.

Hak knew better than that by now, and he stayed quiet until Yona said, “Well, go ahead. Say what you want to say.”

Hak blinked, and then crossed his arms, shifting his weight as he asked, “What are you planning?”

Yona didn’t answer, and he stepped over to look at her paper, which she tried to hide from his view when she realized what he was doing, but Hak was taller and faster, and he had seen the scribbles in her silly loopy writing.

“Archery?” he asked, frowning. “Princess—”

“What of it?” Yona asked fiercely, explaining, “I want to see if they have the timing and skill required to hit a target.”

Hak sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“What’s your other task?”

“I don’t know yet. That’s why I wanted your help.”

“Help?” he asked, frowning at her.

“Please, Hak,” Yona said quickly, giving him those stupid puppy dog eyes that still worked on him for some reason even though she wasn’t eight anymore.

“I need another task. You have better ideas than I do.”

Hak snorted. “Yeah, I do. Like, how about you not do this?”

“Do what?” Yona asked innocently, but he spun her chair around, set his hands on either side, and pinned her with a look that he didn’t use much anymore but that he knew she would remember from childhood.

“Seriously, Princess. This is a bad idea.”

“It is not,” Yona fired back, scowling. “I don’t want to get married yet.”

“Then tell your father. Don’t pull a stupid stunt like this to make a point.”

“It’s the only way he’ll listen to me,” Yona argued, pouting.

Hak sighed, dropping Yona’s gaze.

“Please, Hak,” she said quietly, setting her hand over his.

He started, glancing up at her. They had rarely ever touched, not since childhood, and Hak looked at his princess curiously.

Was she blushing?

He shoved the thought away as Yona repeated, “Please?”

Hak stared at their hands for a second, and then sighed.

“Test their patience,” he said quietly, and Yona frowned at him.

“What do you mean?”

“You saw how that Tae-jun guy acted just now. He didn’t look like he was happy to be interrupted. Test his patience. Give them something they have to wait on.”

Yona blinked. “Like what?”

“Do I have to do _all_ the work?” he teased, grinning as Yona blinked at him again.

“How can you best test someone’s patience? Particularly someone like Tae-jun?” he prompted, raising an eyebrow.

Yona stared through him as her brain worked through options, and Hak allowed himself to smile as he watched her think.

If he couldn’t stop her from carrying out this dumb archery plan, he could at least help her with the other task.

“Get them to wait…” Yona muttered to herself, still thinking.

“Oh!” she said suddenly, turning back to her desk. When she realized that her chair was backward, she glanced at him.

Oh. Right.

He grinned sheepishly and flipped the chair back around properly, backing up a step to let her write out her idea, watching her loopy writing form a new set of words on the page.

“Something like that?” Yona asked, and he grinned.

“That’ll work.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It made sense in my head. Hopefully it'll make a little more sense to you after the next couple of chapters.


	3. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Princess Yona explains the tasks and Hak has a conversation with some family.

At noon the next day, Yona stood in front of the three delegations, her eyes sweeping the room, and Hak knew she was watching for reactions from the kings and their princes.

The men quieted, elbowing each other until every eye was on Yona, who nodded her thanks.

“I promised to give you the tournament parameters, and I have made my decision. The first of the two tasks will require you to saddle my horse, Ao. You shall have all the time you require to complete the task.”

The men murmured amongst themselves for a moment, and Hak smirked. Saddling a horse wasn’t a difficult task, but these men had never met Ao. The horse could be difficult when he wanted to be, and tomorrow would be no exception, with a bunch of strange men trying to put on his saddle. Hak was certain at least one of the three princes would be unable to properly saddle the horse without harming him.

Yona raised a hand and added warningly, “But know this: if you hurt Ao in any way, I will know, and you will fall to the bottom of the ranking before the second task.”

Speaking of the second task…

“And your second and final task will be to hit a series of targets with the provided bow and arrows. You will have a time limit for this task, so take care to be quick but accurate.”

The men started murmuring again, but Yona once again raised a hand for silence, and they stopped at once.

Hak smirked. Well, at least she could shut people up.

“The tasks will be held tomorrow morning. You may have this afternoon to prepare and rest. If you wish to walk the grounds, I would ask that Hak accompany you, as there are certain… dangers outside these walls that he alone is adept at facing.”

Hak frowned. What was she talking about? There was nothing on the grounds that was _that_ dangerous. Was she trying to scare them?

And then he remembered her archery range. She wouldn’t want anyone to get too near it. But who would know that it was hers? It could be the boys’ for all anyone else would know.

Oh well. Yona’s orders were law for him, so he braced himself for the rush of idiots asking him to go with them.

Tae-jun scoffed loudly, “You think we need protection, Princess? We are capable of taking care of ourselves.”

Hak’s grip on his weapon tightened as Yona blinked serenely at Tae-jun.

“You do not know our grounds the way that Hak does. I know that you are capable, but we wouldn’t want anyone becoming injured before tomorrow, would we?”

Tae-jun paused at that, a confused look on his face, before he bowed hastily.

“My apologies, Your Highness.”

Yona nodded, turning to Hak.

“Please see to the safety of our guests,” she declared, and Hak noted the gleam in her eye.

He supposed he might as well accompany the buffoons. He didn’t need to oversee the set up of the tasks until this evening, so a few hours answering stupid questions as he walked the grounds was better than nothing.

He nodded his assent and Yona turned back to the crowd.

“Please, eat,” Yona insisted, and the group turned to find servants with platters of food materializing at the tables.

Most of them wasted no time in grabbing from the trays, apparently ravenous.

Hak noticed that Yona was watching carefully, her eyes sweeping the room to the princes. He followed her gaze to Tae-woo, who was carefully taking meat from the offered platter, smiling politely at the servant holding it.

Hak cut a glance to Yona, who smiled slightly and swiveled to look at Shin-ah’s table. The quiet prince was barely holding eye contact with the servant who offered him a drink, but he nodded politely and held out his glass, giving the girl a small smile before she walked off to pour someone else’s drink. Yona smiled a bit herself, the one that he knew meant she had figured that was coming.

Then she turned to watch Tae-jun.

The annoying blond was eating daintily, which didn’t really surprise Hak that much. His impatience with his fellows did not go unnoticed by Yona. She frowned as Tae-jun took a piece of meat from his neighbor’s plate, giving the man a hard glare when he protested.

Hak could hear his whiny, “I’m the _prince_!” from his spot halfway across the room, and he scowled.

And then Yona was glancing at him, and he froze, plastering a passive smile on his face as he asked, “Princess?”

“Aren’t you going to eat with your family?” Yona asked, sounding sincerely worried, and he frowned.

“Princess?” he asked again, stunned.

“That’s not a bad idea, Yona,” King Il said from his seat, smiling. “Go join the group from Fuuga. Catch up with your family.”

“Your Majesty, I—”

“I insist, Hak,” King Il said gently, sweeping his hand in the direction of Tae-woo’s table. “You must have much to say to each other after so many years apart. If Yona needs you, we will fetch you.”

There was a glint in the king’s eye that Hak had rarely seen before, and he bowed in thanks and stepped over to join Mundok.

“Hak!” his grandfather said quickly. “Please, sit! Tell us about life in Kouka.”

And so Hak found himself sharing food and jokes with family and friends he had not seen in five years, and it felt like no time had passed at all since he had left Fuuga. The kingdom was much the same as when he had come to Kouka, which did not surprise him. Mundok was a capable and wise leader, and Tae-woo would be, too. Someday.

As it was, Tae-woo kept elbowing Hak in the ribs every time he glanced back up to Yona’s spot, and Hak was remembering why he had always kind of hated his cousin. He was much too perceptive.

“Stop!” Hak hissed, only to find Tae-woo smirking at him.

“Then stop staring at the princess like a lost puppy,” his cousin said snarkily, and Hak scowled.

“I am _not_ a lost puppy.”

“ _Sure_ you’re not,” Tae-woo drawled. “Why are we even having this stupid tournament, anyway? Surely the princess already belongs to someone.”

He raised an eyebrow and grinned, and Hak scowled.

“I’m leaving,” Hak announced, standing and trying to ignore his cousin’s snickering.

“Aw, come on, Hak!” Tae-woo said quickly. “I’m only teasing. Come on, show me around.”

He stood, too, and Hak sighed.

Well, if he couldn’t keep Tae-woo from being a snarky idiot, he could at least keep his cousin’s snark away from Princess Yona.

They turned to leave the hall, Hak glancing at King Il before he left and noticing that Tae-jun was inching his way toward Yona’s seat.

“Just a minute,” Hak said, stopping Tae-woo in his tracks.

His cousin blinked, and then smirked.

“Yeah, go protect your princess, oh loyal guardian.”

Hak ignored the comment, already halfway to where Tae-jun stood poised to interrupt Yona’s lunch with some stupid stunt.

Sure enough, the idiot leaned across the table, startling Yona so much that she jumped and dropped her drink, which spilled down her front.

“Oh, Princess, I apologize!” Tae-jun shrieked, his hands flying to his face. “Please, allow me to help you!”

He reached for Yona’s hand and Hak leveled his spear between them, just missing the tip of Tae-jun’s finger.

“I suggest you return to your table, Prince Tae-jun,” Hak said evenly, trying very hard for decorum’s sake to keep from glaring as he continued, “and let the Princess be. She does not need your help.”

Tae-jun trembled slightly, but Hak couldn’t tell if it was out of fear or anger.

Yoon stepped forward then, taking Yona’s hand.

“Come, Princess. We’ll clean your dress and let the delegations finish eating.”

Yona blinked, confused, and Hak nudged her with a finger. “Go with Yoon, Princess.”

“Oh. Of course,” Yona replied distractedly, holding her wet skirts in front of her as she and Yoon exited the hall.

Hak glared once more at Tae-jun and then stalked out of the hall with Tae-woo, silently fuming.

“Inviting Saika was a bad idea,” he grumbled so only his cousin could hear.

“Well, yeah, but it’s tradition, isn’t it? To invite all three kingdoms to compete for the princess? I wanted to stay home, but Gramps insisted we come,” Tae-woo lamented, his hands interlocked behind his head.

“What’s the deal with the saddle task, anyway?” he asked then, and Hak looked up, startled.

“What?”

“The ‘saddle my horse’ task. Why would she ask us to do something like that?”

“Oh. Ao is more difficult than you’d think, is all.”

Tae-woo eyed him curiously, but Hak waved a hand. “That’s all the help you’re getting from me, so don’t ask.”

“Fine by me,” Tae-woo shrugged. “I don’t even want to be here.”

“Why, got a girl at home?” Hak snorted, eyeing his cousin doubtfully.

Tae-woo’s face turned red, and Hak stopped.

“You do, don’t you?”

“Drop it, okay?” Tae-woo said quickly, but Hak wasn’t about to listen.

“Here you’re pestering me about Princess Yona, and you’ve already got a princess. Why don’t you tell Mundok?”

“Because he’ll never approve!” Tae-woo scowled, exasperated.

“Why not?”

“She’s … she’s not royal, for one thing.”

“Well, if you think she’ll make a decent queen, you should tell Mundok.”

Tae-woo shoved a hand through his hair, his shoulders drooping.

“I’m going to compete in this dumb tournament to please him, and then I’m going to go home and maybe I’ll consider telling him.”

“Good,” Hak nodded. “You should.”

“And you should tell King Il—”

“I can’t be king,” Hak interrupted firmly. “Yona would never pick me, anyway. I annoy her too much.”

Tae-woo gave him a look.

“And she annoys me,” he added as an afterthought.

Tae-woo frowned, but stayed quiet, and Hak was grateful.

He spent the rest of the afternoon showing Tae-woo around the grounds, laughing as the triplets caused chaos in multiple locations and Yoon chased after them, screeching various complaints about what they’d done and how they’d be in trouble.

Hak shook his head, and then checked the sun.

It was time to help set up the archery area for tomorrow’s task.

“You’d better go back inside and do something with the others,” he advised Tae-woo. “I’m sure the king has something planned to entertain all of you dummies while we set this stuff up.”

Tae-woo sighed, but let Hak lead him to the castle doors, replying, “I’ll see you at dinner?”

“I’m not sure. If I don’t see you, good luck tomorrow.”

Tae-woo waved him off, rolling his eyes, and Hak went to see to the course set up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this will make a little more sense next chapter. I figure if you want to test someone's patience, give them an animal that isn't familiar with them and see what happens. I certainly wouldn't want to try to saddle a horse quickly if I didn't know said horse. And obvs archery was going to be part of it, because reasons.  
> It made sense in my head.


	4. Tasks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tasks and their outcomes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so hopefully this all makes sense. I made the timings up off the top of my head, so if they sound inaccurate for such tasks, I apologize. It's been a long time since I've done any horseback riding (and I've never saddled one, actually) or archery. I kind of just went by Merida's arrow shooting in that scene in Brave.  
> Edit: Yeah no, three minutes is not realistic, I don't think. Add at least a minute to everyone's times, if not two or three. Whatever seems more reasonable.

Yona stood in front of the stables, her father off to the side, observing, and the delegations from the other kingdoms trying not to plug their noses.

Hak smirked. Yona had asked that the stables not be mucked before this task, assuming it would be a small test within the larger one. He was pretty sure Tae-jun’s expression would earn him some sort of demerit, whether it counted toward his official standing in the tournament or not.

Ao was an interesting choice for a princess, but Yona had insisted on the giant bay Shire when they had been close to the same size, despite her father’s warnings that the horse would dwarf her in a few years.

Yona hadn’t cared. There was something about Ao that had drawn her to him, and now their bond was so strong that almost no one else could approach the horse without spooking him. He would be a difficult horse to saddle for anyone aside from Yona and Hak, so this really was a good challenge if Yona were judging patience and the way the princes reacted to difficult situations.

“This is Ao,” Yona announced, walking over to stand next to Ao, who nuzzled her hand affectionately.

The horse was a whole half a foot taller than Yona, so he wasn’t that much shorter than the princes, but he was rather intimidating when you weren’t used to him. Hak had been skeptical when he had first seen the horse with Yona, but their rapport was impressive, so he never worried when she took Ao for a ride without telling him first. The horse was protective, and highly suspicious of people he didn’t know well.

This would be an interesting morning.

Yona stepped away from Ao, indicating the saddle and bridle hung on the wall.

“You will have as much time as needed to properly saddle and bridle Ao. If you treat him poorly, as I said, you will find yourself at the bottom of the rankings as we go to the final task. You will be judged on both speed and your treatment of my horse.”

She stepped away from Ao and gestured to Tae-woo, who stepped toward the horse nervously, raising a hand slowly as he reached the giant animal.p Ao sniffed him carefully, and then stood still as Tae-woo pulled the saddle off of the wall, bringing it slowly toward Ao, who eyed the leather warily.

Yona very rarely used a saddle when she rode Ao, so saddling him would be even more difficult than bridling him, since he was more used to a bit in his mouth.

Hak held his breath, waiting for Tae-woo to properly set the saddle on the horse’s back. His cousin did so slowly, keeping a hand on Ao’s side gently, like he was reassuring the horse. Ao tossed his mane, but otherwise stayed still, allowing Tae-woo to buckle the saddle underneath him.

Next, Tae-woo reached for the bridle, letting Ao sniff it before he tucked the bit into the horse’s mouth and slid the bridle over Ao’s face, buckling and tightening the appropriate pieces, pausing when Ao tensed up or shuffled his feet.

Finally, Tae-woo was finished, and swung the reins onto Ao’s neck, careful not to let them slap against the horse too harshly.

Hak sighed, relieved, and looked to Yona.

The princess was smiling slightly, but stepped forward quickly, checking Ao’s saddle and bridle for herself to make sure they were done properly.

After a moment, she said, “Very good. But are you able to unsaddle and unbridle him as easily?”

Tae-woo blinked, and so did Hak. That hadn’t been in the original plan. What was Yona _doing_?

Yona stepped back again, clearly indicating that Tae-woo should undo all the work he had just done, and Hak heard his cousin take a breath before approaching Ao again, carefully undoing the straps on the bridle and slipping it off of Ao’s head, pulling the reins with him. He placed the bridle back on the wall, and then went back for the saddle.

Slowly, he unbuckled the saddle and pulled it off, watching Ao carefully. He set the saddle back in its place and Ao whinnied happily, tossing his head and stamping a hoof. Yona smiled, nodding to Tae-woo, and Tae-jun stepped forward.

“This can’t be that difficult!”

Before Yona could say anything, he snagged the saddle off the wall and set it on Ao’s back. The horse shifted restlessly, but Tae-jun ignored the movement, reaching to buckle the straps under Ao’s belly.

Hak saw it coming before anyone else: Ao moved a hind leg, and then kicked forward, at Tae-jun’s hands.

The spoiled prince yelped as hoof met hand and wheeled around to face Yona, who watched him impassively, though Hak could tell she was enraged.

“Your horse just kicked me!”

“I warned you not to mistreat him. Or did you not hear that part of the instruction?”

Yona’s gaze was steady, but Hak could see fire blazing in her eyes from his post nearby.

He tightened his grip on his spear, ready to intervene again if necessary, but Yona glanced at him quickly, shaking her head almost imperceptibly.

Tae-jun sputtered for a second, but heaved a heavy sigh and went to retrieve the bridle, which he set a little more carefully on Ao’s head.

The horse’s ears twitched irritably, but he stayed still until Tae-jun had finished and turned to Yona, bowing only slightly.

“Now can you take them off again—without disturbing Ao?” Yona asked, a dangerous lilt in her tone and a warning in her narrowed eyes.

“This is ridiculous!” Tae-jun fumed as he turned back to the horse, who tried to back up. Tae-jun pulled much too hard on the bridle and Ao snorted, stamping his hooves.

Tae-jun ignored the warning sign and continued to angrily undo the bridle, not caring how quickly or harshly he was doing it.

Hak could tell that Ao had had enough, and apparently so could Yona, but she didn’t intervene as Ao kicked out with a front leg, catching Tae-jun in the waist and sending him sprawling backward, shrieking.

“This blasted horse!” he cried, getting up as quickly as was possible with such an injury inflicted from a giant horse.

Hak tried not to laugh.

Yona stepped in front of Tae-jun as he tried to go to Ao’s saddle, crossing her arms.

“You are finished with this task,” Yona said decisively.

Tae-jun looked like he was going to blow a gasket, and Hak scowled. Would the idiot never learn?

The blond brat tried to get around Yona, but she stepped into his path again, arms out as she shook her head.

“Please return to your place in line.”

Tae-jun scowled and tried to step past Yona once more, but Hak lowered his spear into the ground just in front of Tae-jun’s foot and the royal brat glared at him.

“The princess has decided that you have finished. Do as she asks and wait for the task to be finished,” Hak told him, holding his gaze.

“Or I’ll make you,” he added on impulse, quietly, and Yona glanced at him, surprised.

Tae-jun grumbled but returned to his place in line.

A stable hand carefully took the saddle from Ao and put it back so that Prince Shin-ah could have his turn.

Hak had been skeptical of the quiet boy’s worth, but Shin-ah finished the task much more quickly than even Tae-woo had, calming Ao only once as he put on the bridle. It seemed the kid had a thing for animals, and Hak smiled a little as Shin-ah turned to Yona, who blinked but smiled, indicating that he should remove the saddle and bridle, which he did just as quickly, keeping his hands steady and his movements sure.

Hak was impressed.

Yona stepped forward then, taking both saddle and bridle in one hand and quickly but efficiently putting both on, setting the saddle on Ao’s back and then putting the bridle on before finishing the saddle’s straps.

Ao didn’t move a muscle except to whinny happily.

Tae-jun’s jaw was on the floor, and Hak heard him mumble something about unfair.

Tae-woo and Shin-ah stood quietly, watching Yona carefully.

One task was complete, and Yona had technically completed it even faster than Shin-ah had.

But there was still the archery course to complete, and that would be more difficult than saddling a horse.

\--

Yona stood before the start of the course minutes later, having come over with Ao, and addressed the crowd again.

“The second task, as I said, is archery. You must complete this course in under three minutes or you will be out of luck.”

Three minutes seemed like a long time when you first looked at the course, but Hak had tried it three times last night at Yona’s request and only barely managed to complete it in the required time on each try. Yona had designed it well.

He knew Tae-woo was decent with a bow, but knowing his cousin, he hadn’t practiced in a while.

Shin-ah looked a little nervous as he eyed the bow a servant had handed to him. Probably he was more used to swords than arrows.

Tae-jun looked smug, like he had done this a million times before, but Hak watched him skeptically. He was good at ordering people to do things for him, probably, but not actually doing them himself.

This would be an interesting challenge.

“We will go in reverse order from the previous task. Prince Shin-ah shall go first, then Tae-jun, and finally Tae-woo.”

Yona turned to the three, and Hak could hear the warning in her tone as she added, “Do not be deceived. The course may be more difficult than you think. You may need to think quickly on your feet to make a shot.”

Hak shifted his weight, glancing at King Il. His Majesty hadn’t said anything all morning, but clearly he was displeased that Yona had included an archery component in her tasks. He was not a fan of violence. Hak supposed he should be glad that they were shooting at canvas targets instead of other people.

“There are three targets,” Yona went on, sweeping her arm toward the course. “You will be able to shoot at each target twice. But use your time wisely.”

One minute per target should have been easy enough, Hak mused. But not when Yona was the one behind the course.

She turned to Shin-ah, inviting him to begin.

The quiet prince stepped forward, gripping his bow a little too tightly, and Hak almost felt sorry for the kid.

Shin-ah located his first target, notched an arrow, and lined up his shot.

His first target was only a few feet ahead of the line the princes had to stand behind, but Hak knew it would be tougher to hit than assumed.

Shin-ah paused, judging his distance, and let his arrow fly.

It missed by several feet, and the crowd grumbled.

Shin-ah frowned but notched another arrow, aiming a little differently this time.

He had already wasted one of his precious minutes with his fumbling, and Hak wasn’t sure he could reach the other two targets in under two minutes.

The second arrow hit the target, but missed the bull’s eye by two rings.

Shin-ah didn’t seem as flustered as his delegation were, and moved on to find his next target, which was further into the field, right at the tree line.

There was a rope tied in front of it, swung back and forth by two of Yona’s brothers, which surprised the crowd. The boys grinned happily, throwing the rope between themselves as Shin-ah assessed the situation and notched an arrow.

Carefully, he took aim and loosed his arrow, and it was deflected by the rope in poor timing. Sighing, Shin-ah notched one more arrow and judged his shot differently this time, letting the arrow fly more quickly than he had before. It hit the target, barely missing the bull’s eye, and his group cheered as he located his third target.

This one had Yona’s third brother in front of it, jumping up and down.

The crowd murmured confusion and concern, and Hak looked at Yona, who sat pristinely atop Ao, arms crossed and lips pursed. He knew she wouldn’t have done this if she didn’t think the boys could dodge arrows, but it was still dangerous.

Shin-ah looked torn, glancing at Yona worriedly.

She gave him an encouraging smile and the boy stepped back up to his line, taking a deep breath and loosing his fifth arrow of the day. It sped through the air and just missed Jae-ha’s hair as it hit the target.

Shin-ah sighed in relief, and Hak found himself sighing too.

Yona consulted the servant who held the timing device, who declared, “Two minutes and ten seconds, your Highness.”

Yona nodded in satisfaction, giving Shin-ah a small smile.

Tae-jun was next. He stepped forward confidently, aiming for the first target like he had done this a thousand times, but Hak noticed that his grip on his bow was a little off and smirked.

Tae-jun loosed his first arrow, which missed the target by about a foot, and the prince swore, stomping his foot and glancing back at his supporters. Hak wondered if he wanted one of them to take over the task for him and smirked at the thought.

Tae-jun notched another arrow, adjusted his aim, and loosed his second arrow.

It looked like it was going to hit the target, but it missed by a hair, and Tae-jun looked ready to throw a tantrum.

When he didn’t move on to his next target, Hak took a step, but Yona beat him to the punch, guiding Ao to stand next to Tae-jun, who looked up, startled.

“Pr-Princess?” he asked, giving a stupid pout that Yona resolutely ignored.

“The rule was two arrows per target,” Yona said clearly, and the crowd rumbled its approval as Tae-jun stammered an argument that Yona resolutely ignored.

Finally, with Yona staring determinedly at him, he moved to his next target and took aim, not even looking at the target.

Hak gasped along with the crowd as the arrow whizzed past Kija’s head, and the boy looked up, startled.

“Prince Tae-jun!” Yona warned, crossing her arms. Her brothers were trouble, but Yona loved them, and to have one of them injured because of someone’s carelessness would send her over the edge. Tae-jun was already tipping that scale.

“I apologize, Princess!” Tae-jun cried, face red as he notched another arrow and aimed more carefully this time, Yona’s gaze on him all the while.

This arrow he loosed a bit later than the other, and it missed the boys and did hit the target, but only barely.

Tae-jun readied himself to shoot at his third and final target, where Jae-ha bounced happily, giggling.

Tae-jun took a deep breath, drawing his arm back and taking aim.

When he loosed this arrow, Hak was sure it was going to spear Jae-ha in the face, but the boy dodged at the last minute, shrieking and then giggling happily again.

Yona’s jaw was clenched as she looked to the timekeeper again.

“Two minutes and 50 seconds, your Highness,” the servant announced, and Hak heard Tae-jun curse. His arguments with Yona had cost him valuable time, and his almost hitting two of her brothers would certainly put him at the bottom of the pile. Again.

Yona turned to Tae-woo, smiling heavily at him, and Hak’s cousin stepped forward nervously, locating the first target easily after seeing it hit twice already. His arrow hit just outside the bull’s eye on his first shot, and Fuuga’s spectators roared with joy as Tae-woo moved to the second target, taking a breath to steady himself.

Hak noted that his feet seemed to dig into the ground for a second before Tae-woo launched his second arrow, which soared directly in between Kija and Zeno but was hit by the rope and sent off-course, which caused the crowd to grumble.

Tae-woo looked conflicted for a moment, like he was debating with himself if it was worth trying to shoot another arrow at this particular target.

He stood still for so long that Hak wondered if he was deliberately using up more time so that he was lose.

But Tae-woo notched another arrow, steeling himself as he took aim. Hak could see it in the way his arms tensed.

Tae-woo aimed, let go of his arrow, and it found its way to the very edge of the target.

Fuuga’s delegation groaned, but Tae-woo shrugged it off, moving to the third target.

Jae-ha’s bouncing was not quite as enthusiastic as it had been before, but he was still moving, watching Tae-woo carefully.

Tae-woo glanced at Yona, who nodded encouragingly, a small smile on her face, and Tae-woo turned back to the target.

His arrow notched, Tae-woo watched Jae-ha carefully, probably trying to calculate the speed of his arrow compared to Jae-ha’s bouncing.

Finally, when the crowd was growing impatient, he loosed the arrow, and it flew true, hitting the ring just outside the bull’s eye, and Tae-woo dropped his bow with a giant sigh.

Yona consulted the timekeeper again for the final time.

“Two minutes exactly, your Highness.”

So it would come down to the two: Shin-ah, who had done better in the saddling challenge, and Tae-woo.

Hak was rather impressed.

If Tae-woo stuck around, at least he’d have one more friendly face within the castle.

Yona swung herself gracefully down from Ao’s saddle, nodding to Hak, and he stepped over quickly to take the horse’s bridle. 

And then Yona slid her cloak off her shoulders, revealing her quiver and bow.

Hak frowned, and he saw King Il sit up straighter in his chair as the crowd murmured.

Yona didn’t speak, but stepped up to the line, poising herself to shoot.

King Il stood up, calling, “Yona!”

But Yona ignored him, loosing her arrow and hitting the bull’s eye exactly.

She moved to the next target, where Kija and Zeno were still swinging the rope happily.

“Yona! Stop!” King Il warned again, stepping toward her.

Yona took a breath, calculated, loosed her arrow, and Hak watched as it soared through the field and caught the rope, sticking it directly to the center of the target.

The crowd murmured more loudly, and Hak noted that many of them sounded impressed.

Yona aimed for the final target, ignoring her father’s demand that she set her bow down immediately.

“Hak!” King Il cried desperately, but Yona had already loosed her final arrow, and Hak watched as it reached Jae-ha just as he landed from a jump and soared over his head into the bull’s eye.

Yona wheeled around to come face to face with an angry King Il, who looked more disappointed than anything.

The princess glared at her father for a moment before snatching the reins from Hak’s hands before he could react. Yona pulled herself quickly back onto Ao’s back and sped off into the forest, leaving the crowd in stunned silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, that's a bit of a cliff-hanger, but the next part would have made this chapter sooooo long and I wanted to break it up a little. This seemed as good a place as any to pause.


	5. Choices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hak goes to find Yona. And Yona chooses a king.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter might be a little longer (or maybe shorter) than the others??? I wasn't really keeping track of words per chapters, just kind of the flow of start and stop.

And then…

“What is this?!” shrieked King Soo-jin as Tae-jun threw a mini tantrum behind him.

“That was unacceptable,” King Joon-Gi said more diplomatically, frowning.

“Seemed pretty brilliant to me,” Mundok said easily, crossing his arms and smirking slightly.

“If the princess didn’t want to wed, why invite us? It was a waste of our time and energy,” Soo-jin fumed, scowling at the others, but particularly at Mundok.

“Yes, but it was entertaining,” Mundok pointed out, shrugging.

Joon-Gi sighed, stepping forward as he said, “What do we do now, King Il? Surely the princess must marry, and tradition says it should be one of our sons.”

“Perhaps it is time for a new tradition,” Mundok suggested quietly, casting a glance at Hak, who frowned.

“Change tradition!?” Soo-jin cried. “We can’t!”

“That would be difficult,” agreed Joon-Gi, his hand on his chin thoughtfully.

“The princess has just technically won both challenges, and she is firstborn descendent of the king of Kouka,” Mundok pointed out, turning to the servant keeping time.

“How quickly did the princess complete the archery task?”

The servant stammered for a second, checking, and replied, “One minute, your highness.”

“Much more quickly than either of our princes,” Mundok said decidedly, looking to the other kings, who were frowning.

“Hak, please find Princess Yona and bring her back here,” King Il requested, and Hak froze.

When she was in this bad of a mood? Didn’t King Il know that was a bad idea?

Probably not.

Hak sighed and bowed, because King Il’s word was above even Yona’s, and Hak _was_ the only one who had a clue where she went when she was upset.

“Traditions can be changed,” Mundok said sagely, looking from Hak to Tae-woo, who looked startled at their grandfather’s declaration, but nodded slowly.

Hak shoved the thought away and went to find Yona.

Probably she had let Ao run of his own accord, but eventually she would wind up back at her archery range. Whether she would shoot there now or not was questionable, but she would be there at some point.

He settled on a hay bale, watching the trees until sleep came.

He woke a while later to the gentle thud of Yona’s feet kicking the hay bale next to his, and as he sat back up, Yona paused.

“You have hay in your hair,” she said by way of greeting, and Hak shook his head quickly to get the majority of it out.

“Let me guess: Father sent you to fetch me.”

“Right in one.”

Yona sighed. “I don’t want to marry either of them.”

“Then _tell him_ that,” Hak insisted again, exasperated.

Yona plopped onto his hay bale next to him, shoving his shoulder.

“I can’t. He won’t listen.”

“Surprising and embarrassing him like that didn’t help your chances,” he pointed out.

Yona crossed her arms grumpily but looked thoughtful.

“Which one do you think would make a better king?”

Hak blinked, considering the two. “Well, Shin-ah is patient, but he doesn’t talk. And Tae-woo doesn’t want to be in charge of anything yet. So…”

Yona sighed heavily, running a hand through her hair.

Ao walked over, nudging Yona’s arm, and she buried a hand in his mane.

“I understand why you don’t want to get married. And I know that neither of the three is ideal. But if you would just speak to your father about it, I’m sure he’ll listen.”

Yona groaned, dropping her forehead onto his shoulder in defeat. Hak froze, unused to the gesture, and glanced at her.

“I hate this.”

Hak snorted.

“What, my shoulder?”

Yona raised her head just a bit, staring hard at him. “You know what I mean.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, but it’s more fun to make fun of you.”

“We haven’t done this since we were kids, have we?” Yona asked, her nose pressing into his arm again, and Hak frowned, not sure what she meant.

“You’ve been stuck as my guard for so long that we haven’t had time to just sit and talk like this since we were little,” Yona went on, and he realized she was right.

He still teased her now, sure, but it was done more carefully and usually when it was just the two of them, because despite their long friendship, it was inappropriate to say certain things to the princess—at least in front of other people.

And though they were together a lot, and she ranted to him, they didn’t get that much chance to talk freely and properly, like they had as kids.

“Hm,” he agreed quietly, watching her.

She was rarely this vulnerable within the castle anymore, having gotten used to her responsibilities and doing as King Il asked, however grudgingly, without voicing much opinion. That was what this archery range was for.

He knew part of the reason she was so comfortable with him was because they had been friends before he had become her guardian. But this seemed different.

He wasn’t sure what to say, so he let Yona have the silence. He was well-practiced at that, as well as fudging the truth to King Il about Yona’s whereabouts and why it was taking her so long to return.

Finally, Yona sighed and raised her head properly, looking at him carefully.

“Oh!” she said with a tiny giggle, reaching for his face.

Hak stayed still, not sure where this was going, as Yona brushed a hand through his hair and plucked a few more pieces of straw from the mess.

“You missed some,” she said quietly, setting the straw down on the hay bale.

Hak blinked. Yona rarely touched him anymore, so that had been both unexpected and, admittedly, rather pleasant.

“Hak,” Yona said quietly before he could speak, and he looked at her, curious.

“Do you think Father would… give me more time? If I asked?”

Hak snorted. “He gives you practically anything you ask, as long as it’s not dangerous. Of course he would, if you explained your feelings to him.”

Yona stared at the hay bale for a minute, and then asked, “How can you be sure?”

“Because he loves you,” Hak replied simply, elaborating when she glanced at him, “He _wants_ you to talk to him. Trust me.”

How many times had he listened to the king complain that Yona never talked to him anymore?

Yona pursed her lips for a moment and then peered up at him.

“Will you go with me?”

Hak resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

“If you want me to.”

Yona flopped backward onto the hay in a most un-princess-like way, groaning, “Fine.”

“Now you’ve got hay in _your_ hair,” Hak pointed out as she sat up, shaking her head.

The straw didn’t come out of her hair as easily as it had out of his, and he reached on impulse to pick a bunch of it out.

His hand froze halfway to her face, and Yona tipped her head curiously, her eyes soft. She didn’t back away from him, so he let himself brush the rest of the straw out of her hair, trying to ignore the way that her face turned pink.

Ao whinnied and Hak realized he had forgotten the horse was even there.

“You should get back to the castle and speak to your father,” he decided quickly, glancing at the horizon. They had been out long enough that the sun was going down.

He stood, but Yona wrapped both arms around one of his and tugged him back toward the hay bale.

“Princess?” he asked, confused.

Yona kept her grip on him, burying her face in his sleeve as she mumbled, “I want to watch the sunset.”

Now she was definitely blushing.

Hak sighed, settling himself more comfortably on the bale, not willing to argue with her. Sunset, and then he would walk her back to the castle and see about this conversation with King Il.

“You’re a good friend, Hak,” Yona said quietly, and he glanced at her, surprised.

“Have I ever told you that?”

He blinked, and Yona lifted her head to look at him, her gaze softer than he’d ever seen it before, but somehow intense and determined as well.

“I guess you have now,” he said lamely, smiling crookedly at her. She had caught him off-guard, and he hated when that happened.

Yona smiled lightly at him, and Hak stood, pulling her with him.

“Sun’s set. Time to head back.”

“Mm,” Yona hummed absently, catching Ao’s bridle in one hand and looping her other arm around Hak’s.

She was being especially weird tonight, but Hak chose not to say anything, afraid of ruining her good attitude with a snarky remark.

They walked back together in comfortable silence, settling Ao back in his stall before heading into the castle.

“Yona! There you are!” King Il cried as they entered the throne room, Hak setting himself a respectful step behind the princess.

“I was so worried!” the king continued, reaching to pull Yona into a hug.

“I was safe, Father. I was with Hak,” Yona replied quietly, frowning slightly as her father let go of her.

“Do you know what this stunt of yours has done?” King Il demanded then, ignoring Yona’s frown. “The other kings are very upset with you, young lady. And so am I.”

Hak saw Yona cringe momentarily at that, but she took a breath and declared, “It was the only way I could think of to show you that I don’t want to get married. Not to one of them.”

King Il looked mortified as Yona continued, “I don’t want to marry either of those princes, for a multitude of reasons that have become clear in the last few days.”

“What sort of reasons?” King Il asked, jaw clenched, and Hak had to stifle a snort.

He hadn’t noticed?

“Where do I begin?” Yona replied, ticking one finger as she explained, “Tae-jun is spoiled, impatient, and rude. I will not have Kouka ruled by a jerk.”

King Il looked startled, but Hak could see a tiny tilt to his lips. So he _had_ noticed the snotty Saika’s attitude.

Yona ticked a second finger. “Tae-woo would make a good king. When he is ready. But he is not, and I will not be the one to force him into a marriage he does not want.”

King Il looked surprised at that idea, and Yona ticked a third finger as she said, “Shin-ah is patient and kind, but he is too shy to speak, even to me. I suspect that even in time, he would not outgrow that shyness very much. I don’t want to push him into becoming a ruler if he is not confident enough to speak to one person, let alone a kingdom.”

King Il blinked, and Hak saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes: recognition that his daughter was growing up and was capable of making her own decisions.

“Then what kind of man would you prefer to marry?” King Il asked, and it was Yona’s turn to blink.

Then she smiled softly as she began ticking off fingers again.

“Kouka deserves a king who is loyal, brave, capable of thinking on his feet, able to lead the people, and…”

Yona paused there, closing her eyes for a moment as she took a breath, and then continued, “And who sees me for the person that I am and is able to make me better.”

“Do you have a man in mind?” King Il asked, pressing his fingertips into a steeple as he leaned forward in his chair.

“Yes,” Yona replied quietly, keeping her father’s gaze as she finished, “The one you chose to protect me after watching him first become my friend.”

Hak froze, staring at the back of Yona’s head, processing her statement.

_Me?_ a part of his brain asked, awed.

_But she can’t do that,_ the other side of his brain declared stubbornly.

King Il smiled slightly, but asked seriously, “You realize what you are asking, Princess?”

“I am aware,” Yona replied, no trace of doubt in her voice. “Hak is technically a member of a royal family, as his father was a prince of Fuuga,” Yona declared, and he realized she had figured that out from his brief mentioning of being cousins with Tae-woo.

“He gave up that title to become your guardian. Surely you know this,” His Majesty reminded, and Yona scoffed.

“Title or not, Hak is more than capable of leading Kouka—if he so chooses.”

There was a catch to Yona’s voice as she said that last part, and Hak looked up, startled.

She was willing to give him a choice in the matter.

“Perhaps you should allow Hak to speak for himself,” King Il suggested, turning to look at him.

“Hak?” Yona asked hesitantly, turning to face him, and he noticed that her face was nearly the color of her hair.

Her eyes were an ocean and he was drowning, unable to form words.

“Hak?” King Il asked, frowning.

Yona took a step toward him and Hak came back to himself, blinking as he cleared his head.

“I… don’t understand,” he found himself saying, staring at her confusedly.

Yona closed her eyes for longer than seemed necessary before she said, “I’ve been thinking.”

_Never a good sign,_ part of his brain snarked, but he shut it up in a second, focusing on his princess.

“If I am to marry, I want it to be to someone who understands me and can help me make decisions that will best benefit Kouka.”

Yona took another step, gripping his free hand in both of hers, watching him carefully as she continued, “Who better to be king than someone who already knows the queen so well he can read her mind?”

Hak could only stare at her hands, trying and failing to form a coherent sentence.

This was not what he had expected. Not even in his wildest dreams had he thought Yona would ever ask him to be king. This was a dream, right?

Yona squeezed his hand and he looked at her, startled at the look in her eyes.

Nope, definitely not a dream.

“Hak, please say something,” Yona requested, and he blurted, “I… I can’t read your mind.”

Yona smiled gently, giggling lightly. 

“All right, _almost_ ,” she amended. “Is that better?”

“You want me to be king,” he said finally, slowly, watching her face.

Yona flushed but kept her eyes on him.

“Yes. I think you would be a wonderful king, Hak.”

The sincerity in her voice caught him off-guard again and then she added nervously, “If you think you could stand me being queen, that is.”

Hak smirked, moving his hand so that it was intertwined with hers.

“I think I could handle that,” he replied quietly, and Yona glanced at the floor, blushing even further.

King Il cleared his throat and Yona jumped, but Hak stayed where he was, looking up at the king almost lazily.

“Your Majesty?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Hak!” Yona hissed, grabbing his sleeve.

King Il smiled slightly, and then began to laugh.

Yona stared, and Hak smiled, squeezing her hand as he pulled her into a hug.

“I’m pretty sure that’s a good sign,” he said with a grin, and Yona blinked for a second before a smile found its way to her face and she returned his hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Hak's parents are gone in this fic. His dad was a prince (Mundok is king, obvs) but something happened to him, and as I said a few chapters ago, Tae-woo's father (the other prince) was killed in battle. So Hak is technically royalty, except he gave that up to become Yona's bodyguard, like he gave up his leadership of the Wind Tribe to keep them and Yona safe.
> 
> Also, yeah, I'm keeping the idea from the manga wherein whoever marries Yona will become king of Kouka, versus her becoming queen of another country.
> 
> And yes, I said sunset. The tasks started late morning, or maybe at noon, and though they didn't take long, Yona disappears for a significant amount of time to clear her head. 
> 
> I've got at least three more chapters of this typed out that I need to kind of finish up, but there's more I need to figure out and write out.
> 
> I don't really have a regular update schedule for this one just because I have a lot going on and I haven't looked at it as a whole project in a while. Oops. But thank you to the people who've left kudos and have bookmarked! Those notifications make me smile.


	6. Decisions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Telling the delegations of Yona's decision.

When they told the other kings, the reactions were about what Hak had expected.

Tae-jun and his father looked the most displeased, and Tae-jun didn’t even bother to hide his pout.

King Joon-Gi stepped forward then, glancing at his group before reaching to shake Yona’s hand.

“You are a brave young lady, Princess. Suiko would be glad to host you if ever you are in need.”

Yona blinked, and then shook Joon-Gi’s hand with a smile, replying, “And Kouka would be glad to see you and your family again, if you wish to visit. Perhaps Princess Lili could accompany you next time?”

Joon-Gi bowed quickly, agreeing, “Yes, I think you and she would be fast friends,” and returned to his party, preparing to leave.

Shin-ah looked thoroughly relieved, and he smiled as he stepped over to shake Hak’s hand. Hak blinked for a moment, and then smiled back, grasping the quiet prince’s hand firmly.

Shin-ah turned to Yona, smiling brightly, and Yona beamed back as she wrapped him in a hug, promising, “I am sure that Ao would not refuse a visit in the future. We would be glad to have you.”

Shin-ah blinked, and then nodded, returning to his father’s side and leaving momentarily.

Tae-woo smirked, and Hak would have gone over and smacked him if not for Yona’s gentle grip on his arm as Mundok walked over to congratulate him.

“I’m so happy for the both of you,” his grandfather grinned, and Yona let go of Hak’s arm to hug the old man, who blinked and then returned the gesture.

“Welcome to the family, Princess Yona. Fuuga will always welcome your visits.”

“And Kouka yours,” Yona replied, beaming back at him. “You’ll be back for the wedding, of course?”

“Of course! I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Mundok grinned.

Tae-woo stepped over then, grinning as he reached to hug Yona gently.

“Good luck, you two,” he grinned, and Hak rolled his eyes as he said quickly, “And you. I have a feeling Mundok will be just fine with your decision.”

Yona glanced at him, curious, as Tae-woo flushed and scratched his head. “Yeah, maybe you’ll be invited to a wedding, too.”

Yona beamed at that, and hugged Tae-woo again, squealing.

Tae-woo laughed as she let go of him and then looked at Hak seriously.

“You sure you know what you’re doing?”

It was Yona who bopped him on the head, to Hak’s pleasant surprise, and she frowned at Tae-woo as she replied quickly, “Of course we do.”

Tae-woo laughed, and then returned to Mundok’s side, both of them grinning as they left with the rest of their party.

King Soo-jin stepped forward next, looking slightly displeased as he shook Hak’s hand and bowed to Yona. “I am glad you have made a decision, Princess Yona. Saika would be glad to see you, if ever you visit.”

Yona blinked, and then smiled. “And Kouka would never refuse a visit from Saika.”

“Speak for yourself,” Hak grunted quietly, crossing his arms and fixing Tae-jun with a hard look as the prince approached cautiously as his father returned to the group.

“Princess Yona, I want to apologize for my behavior during this visit. It was rude of me.”

He bowed then, so low and quickly that he nearly fell over.

Yona giggled just a little, and then reached to grasp Tae-jun’s hand as he straightened. “I appreciate your apology, Prince Tae-jun. Saika is lucky to have a prince who acknowledges his mistakes. You are welcome to come visit any time.”

Tae-jun beamed, and then turned warily to Hak, extending a hand.

“The princess is lucky to have such a dedicated man at her side. I will make sure that Saika remains a pleasant place to visit and continues its trade with Kouka.”

Hak shrugged, but Yona stepped on his toes as she replied, “Thank you, Prince Tae-jun. Have a safe journey home.”

Tae-jun nodded, and turned to leave with his father.

Hak narrowed his eyes, turning to Yona. “What was that for?”

“You weren’t being very nice,” she whispered back, glancing at her father.

“Well, he was a jerk, you know,” Hak shrugged, catching the hand she raised to hit him.

“He was trying to be kind and apologize!” she sighed.

“So?”

Yona huffed as she pulled her hand from his grasp, turning to walk away.

“You’re impossible.”

“And yet, somehow, you still want to marry me,” he drawled, catching up to her in one stride and grinning.

Her face turned pink as she looked away from him, muttering, “I’m beginning to have second thoughts.”

“Eh?”

He caught her by the waist and pulled her close, smiling as she squeaked in surprise.

“Shall we go tell them you’ve changed your mind?” he asked quietly, and Yona blinked at him, the blush darkening. “That you’d rather have one of them after all?”

She stared at him, her eyes wide as she considered it for a moment, and then she shook her head slowly.

“N-no.”

“Hmm?” he asked, lowering his head closer to hers. “I didn’t catch that.”

“You’re impossible,” she said again, her voice soft and her eyes softer.

“Ah, to everyone else, maybe,” Hak grinned, watching her carefully.

“But,” Yona said quietly, something in her eyes shifting, “I think impossible is just a challenge that no one has accepted before.”

Now it was his turn to blink, and then he grinned at her, asking, “And how, exactly, do you plan to undertake such a challenge?”

Yona’s face turned even redder, but she didn’t look away.

“Marry him, of course.”

Hak was acutely aware of King Il not far away, watching carefully.

“Remind me how long it’s going to take to plan this wedding?” he asked, letting Yona untangle herself from his arms as they walked out of the hall.

“Yoon is helping, so everything should be ready before long. But we have to send out invitations, and that can take time,” Yona said, not quite answering his question, and Hak frowned and stopped walking.

“Why bother inviting people?” he asked before he could stop himself, and Yona paused, looking at him with wide eyes.

“We have to invite people! They’ll want to celebrate with us!”

“Ehh. They could celebrate later. I don’t get all of this ceremony stuff. If it was up to me, we’d just get married tomorrow and disappear on the honeymoon.”

He grinned, and Yona flushed at the implication but shoved him, protesting, “It’s tradition! Besides, I’ve been dreaming of it forev—”

Yona suddenly stopped, flushing and throwing a hand over her mouth.

“Eh? You’ve dreamed about marrying me forever?” Hak teased, grinning as Yona scowled at him.

“No, of a wedding, dummy,” she insisted, but the pink tinge on her face answered his question. Maybe not forever, but she had thought of it.

“And yet you didn’t want to marry any of the princes we met this week,” he said thoughtfully, still grinning.

Yona turned away and kept walking, ignoring him, and Hak chuckled.

“All right, we’ll do it your way!” he called, catching up to her and settling an arm over her shoulders. “But I get to plan the honeymoon, and I’m not telling you where we’re going or how long we’re staying.”

Yona sighed heavily, reaching up to grasp his hand. “I suppose I can handle that.”

Hak grinned as they continued their walk, asking eventually, “So when, exactly, are you planning to marry me?”

“I don’t recall you formally proposing,” Yona replied, her nose in the air but a blush back on her face.

“I seem to remember _you_ asking _me_. Indirectly, anyway,” he grinned, pausing to raise his arm enough to spin her around so that she rested against him.

“But if you’re still uncertain, then maybe this will help.”

Hak tucked a finger under Yona’s chin, watching her eyes go wide as he leaned closer, stopping just short of kissing her and grinning at the thought.

“Princess Yona, would you do me the great honor of marrying me?”

Yona blinked slowly, watching him curiously, and then beamed.

“I would be glad to,” she whispered, gripping his free hand tightly.

A tear traced its way down her cheek, and Hak brushed it away with his thumb, smiling and settling for hugging her for now.

He’d waited ten years. Another month or two wasn’t going to kill him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really not keeping track of the lengths of these chapters, and there are at least two more typed out, but I do have to keep working on them to figure out how to continue.


	7. A Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a wedding is had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay! Finally an update!  
> Umm, happy February??? :)  
> I have at least one more chapter of this typed out, but it doesn't quite feel finished with that chapter, so there will be more. I'm going to try to keep it to 9 or 10 chapters, but we'll see!

Six months had dragged by, and Hak was more than ready for today to just be over with. He had never been big on ceremony and tradition, but for Yona, today he would endure it.

She was getting ready somewhere, Yoon working his magic on her hair and makeup as usual, and Hak was getting antsy. It was just about time for King Il to walk her down the aisle.

Tae-woo nudged his shoulder, whispering, “Calm down, cousin. She’s not going to run away from you. Mundok went to see her and he says the waiting will be worth it.”

Hak glanced at his cousin for a second, wondering what that was supposed to mean, exactly, and then Jae-ha bumped into him and Hak had to take a breath before he looked at the boys.

“Would you three _stand still_?” he hissed, wishing he had his spear.

The boys were waiting up front with him and Tae-woo, while Princess Lili, from Suiko, walked up to Yona’s side of the altar, radiant in pale blue.

Her brother, Prince Shin-ah, was sitting not far away, and Hak could see a smile on his face as he turned to his father, King Joon-Gi.

Behind them sat King Soo-jin and Prince Tae-jun, the prince glancing around nervously at anyone but Hak as they waited.

Mundok sat, beaming, in the front, just steps from where Lili stood, though Hak could tell his grandfather was trying not to cry. The old man was incredibly sentimental, and Yona was about to become, essentially, his granddaughter.

Speaking of Yona, the music changed then, and Hak straightened, freezing as he watched the doors open and Yona and King Il walked toward him.

It felt like an eternity, waiting for her at the end of the aisle, and Hak didn’t even care that the boys were bouncing behind him. He could see only Yona, radiant in white and already crying.

Hak barely even registered the fact that Yoon had gotten her hair to behave today, pulled back and adorned with a blue ribbon that matched Lili’s dress.

When King Il set Yona’s hand in his, Hak had to force himself to smile at the king, not wanting to take his eyes off of Yona.

King Il smiled back, patting their hands, and sat down next to Mundok, beaming at the other king.

And then it was over, and Hak was blinking as Yona squeezed his hand, her face pink as he registered that they were allowed to kiss now. He grinned at her and tucked a finger under her chin the way he had before—had it only been six months? It felt like a lifetime!—and kissed her, his heart hammering as he pulled away.

Yona was smiling through the blush and he knew that image would be burned into his mind forever.

Ik-su, their clumsy priest, beamed as he reminded them that they could proceed to the reception, and the guests laughed a little, and Yona tugged on his hand, and they were walking back down the aisle, married.

The reception dragged, compared to the ceremony. It was a steady stream of well wishes, people making toasts, friends sharing stories, and trying to eat around all of it.

The best part, Hak thought, was the clinking of the glasses--which was almost always initiated by someone from Fuuga, he noticed.

But he wasn’t complaining, because it gave him an excuse to kiss Yona throughout the evening, reminding her, “It’s tradition!” any time she tried to protest.

King Il cried through his little speech, thanking Hak for taking care of Yona in the past and now. Yona bawled, too, hugging her father with one arm while cutting the circulation off in Hak’s fingers with her other hand.

Mundok got up to say something, and Hak prepared himself for embarrassing childhood stories, but it turned out that Mundok was proud of him for staying by Yona’s side for so long and for finally realizing his feelings.

Hak blanched a little at that one, but Yona beamed at him through tears and he didn’t mind it so much.

Tae-woo, as best man, had prepared a brief congratulations, sharing his comment about Hak being a lost puppy within his speech. Hak reached to slap the back of his head when he sat back down, and his cousin grinned, waving Yona away when she tried to make sure he wasn’t bleeding.

Lili, who hadn’t known them for very long but had become fast friends with Yona, as Joon-Gi had predicted, cried less than Hak had expected in her maid of honor speech, declaring that she had never seen two people so happy together in such a short time with them. Yona hugged her for much longer than Hak thought necessary when she sat back down, but he shrugged it off. They were girls, and girls cried and hugged.

The boys, unsurprisingly, took control of the room at one point, giant grins on their faces. Hak was about to stand up and shoo them back to their seats when Zeno declared that they were happy to welcome a big brother into their family. This was unsurprising, because Zeno was always the one grinning at him and keeping the other two away from him when they were pulling stunts. 

Kija echoed the statement, happy that Yona was so happy, which surprised Hak. He had thought Kija for sure would have been a little jealous of the new addition. He and Yona had always had a slightly closer relationship than the other two boys had.

Jae-ha cried, which Hak had expected from Kija, but certainly not Jae-ha. But Jae-ha’s crying got Yona crying, and then the guests started sniffling, and then Yona was hugging the boys, and they never did hear what Jae-ha was thinking due to all the crying.

And then it was over, and they were waving goodbye from the back of a carriage pulled by Ao, one of the servants at the reins.

Hak breathed a sigh as Yona turned to him, worry etched on her face.

“Are you all right?”

“I am now,” he grinned, reaching to run a finger over her forehead.

Yona sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder.

“Thank you for putting up with all of that today.”

“It was important to you,” he replied, smiling down at her.

“And parts of it were enjoyable,” he added, narrowing his eyes as Yona glanced up at him curiously.

“Mm,” she agreed absently, closing her eyes.

Hak trailed a hand through Yona’s hair, pausing when he reached the ribbon. Slowly, he untied it and smiled when Yona blinked at him.

“What are you doing?”

“I was just thinking of other ways we could use this ribbon,” he replied easily, grinning at her.

Yona flushed, sitting up straight. “Hak!”

He laughed then, letting the ribbon drop and pulling her back toward him.

“I still hear glasses clinking,” he said quietly, grinning as he set a hand at Yona’s cheek, watching a blush work its way up her face.

“Do you?” she asked in a whisper, her eyes wide as she watched him.

“I do,” he replied, and Yona smiled a little, her gaze softening as he kissed her again, grinning.

“What’s that face for?” Yona asked when she pulled away, frowning at him slightly.

“No reason.”

The frown deepened and Yona crossed her arms, adopting her Princess voice.

“You _always_ have a reason. Tell me.”

Hak raised an eyebrow, leaning over until Yona fell back against the bench, throwing her arms behind her but missing; she fell, hair splayed everywhere, onto the seat. He set a hand on either side of her, leaning down until he was nearly nose-to-nose with her. 

Yona blinked up at him, curiosity and a little fear in her eyes, and he just watched her for a moment, burning the image into his mind.

Yona’s face turned crimson and she squirmed a little under his gaze, which only made her that much more adorable.

“I was just thinking,” he said slowly, fiddling with her hair again, “that you haven’t asked me where we’re going yet. I’m surprised.”

“You said you wouldn’t tell me, so there was no point in asking,” Yona reminded him, pouting just a little.

“Hmmm. Aren’t you even a little bit curious?”

Yona’s eyes narrowed a little as she replied, “Knowing you, it will be somewhere away from people, where you can have your way with me.”

“You make it sound like you have no choice in anything,” he chuckled, a little surprised at her description. “But you’re right that it’s not near a lot of people.”

Yona blinked at him. “Really? Where—?”

The carriage went over a bump and Hak reached on instinct for Yona’s side to keep her from sliding off of the bench. His other hand slipped and he ended up on top of her, and Yona squeaked at the sudden contact.

“That was unexpected,” he grinned. “But not unpleasant, hm?”

“You’re not the one being squished,” Yona breathed, and he smiled apologetically, sitting back up and pulling her up with him, tucking her into his side.

“How far is this place?” Yona asked around a yawn, shifting against him to get more comfortable.

“You can sleep for a while,” Hak assured her, tracing a pattern absently along her arm. “You’ll—”

“If you make a joke about needing my energy, you’ll spend your first night as a married man alone,” Yona warned, eyes still closed, and Hak blinked.

“I was going to say that you’ll probably want to explore the area a little when we get there, but if _that’s_ what you were thinking, we could do that, too.”

He grinned, and Yona stepped on his foot.

This was going to be an interesting couple of weeks, he mused, watching Yona fall into sleep.

-

He shook her awake a little later, when they had reached their destination, and Yona blinked sleepily, rubbing one eye as she looked at him.

“Are we there?”

Hak smiled, reaching across her to open the door. “Have a look.”

Yona stepped outside, and he heard her gasp as he stepped out next to her.

“It’s Mundok’s wedding present,” he said quietly, grinning as Yona’s eyes widened.

“We used to come here a lot when I was little. Mundok decided to give it to us, since no one really uses it anymore. We’re close enough to Fuuga that we can visit, or they can come see us.”

Yona blinked at him, and then beamed, wrapping him in a hug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had been to a wedding just a couple of days before writing this section. Pretty much the descriptions of Yona and the dragons are from that. Lol.  
> (It was a June wedding, so that tells you how long I've been working on this behemoth. Yikes.)  
> I had also watched a mini-marathon of Four Weddings on TLC the day before this part originally got written. So. There’s that, too.  
> I’m not married, and I haven’t talked to too many people about how quickly or slowly the ceremony goes versus the reception, but… Whatevs.  
> I actually kind of hate the glass-clinking thing. I feel like it would be super embarrassing. The girl who got married the weekend before I wrote this was like that, too, not hugely into PDA, so it was interesting to write this from a pretty opposite perspective. Because Hak is a total dork when it comes to his love for Yona, and I feel like he’d take every opportunity to kiss her, in front of people or not.  
> I have zero experience in kissing people, just what I read in fanfic. LOL.


	8. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which a wedding present is given, and visitors show up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not *completely* happy with this chapter, but it's been basically a month since I posted anything in this fic and I figured it was time.

They had been here almost a week, and Yona had insisted on exploring the land around the cottage nearly every day, marveling at the waterfalls and wildlife that wandered up to the windows.

Hak had enjoyed every second so far, glad that she was so relaxed and happy.

Yona was curled up next to him in the living room, looking like she was about to fall asleep again, when the knock came at the door.

Yona grumbled as Hak stood and he had to pry his fingers from her grip, laughing.

“What if it’s Mundok coming to say hello?” he asked as he approached the door, opening it with a grin.

Instead of his grandfather, his baby brother stood on the porch, grinning and holding what looked like a picnic basket.

“Tae-yeon?” Hak blinked as his brother peered around him into the living area. When he spotted Yona, his eyes went wide and he zipped around Hak, shoving the basket at him, and wrapped Yona in a hug as she sat up properly.

“Tae-yeon! How nice to see you!”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t come to the wedding,” Tae-yeon pouted, and Yona patted his head.

“Mundok said you were sick. I’m glad you’re feeling better now!”

“Um, Tae-yeon? What’s this for?” Hak asked, pointing at the basket in his hands.

Tae-yeon bounced back up, snatching it carefully from him, beaming. “It’s your wedding present!”

“Eh?” Hak asked, blinking.

Yona tilted her head as Tae-yeon set the basket in her lap, gesturing that she should open it.

Yona obliged, pulling the basket open, and gasped as she stared at Tae-yeon, who grinned.

Hak stepped over, curious, as Yona pulled from the basket a tiny bundle of fur.

Hak bit back a groan.

“A kitten!” Yona beamed, looking at him then and frowning at his expression.

“Isn’t it cute?” Tae-yeon gushed. “One of the cats had babies a few weeks ago and Grandpa said I could bring you one. I think she’ll be a good friend for Ao!”

Yona grinned back, setting the kitten back in its basket for a second to hug Tae-yeon gently.

“She’s beautiful, and I think Ao will like her. Did you name her?”

Tae-yeon shook his head. “Nuh-uh. I wanted you to.”

Yona stroked a finger through the kitten’s fur and Hak could hear it purring from a few feet away.

He sighed resignedly, knowing Tae-yeon wouldn’t take the kitten back, and Yona was too taken with the kitten to even think of returning it. He’d just have to get used to a cat in the house. And it would probably wander around the castle anyway; he might never see the animal.

Yona hummed quietly, considering the kitten. It batted her fingers playfully, and Yona smiled.

“I think we’ll wait a little while and see what her personality turns out to be, hm?”

“Mm!” Tae-yeon agreed with a grin, waving him over. “Come see the kitten, Hak!”

Hak resisted the urge to roll his eyes, stepping closer and leaning over Yona’s shoulder to examine the kitten.

She was cute, he decided, with giant amber eyes and interesting red and black markings around her nose and ears. Hak recognized the breed as a bobtail, which surprised him. He hadn’t realized that there were very many of those in Fuuga, let alone enough of them that one would have kittens.

The kitten purred, Yona and Tae-yeon beamed, and Hak sighed.

“Yeah, I guess she’s all right.”

Yona shot him a look and he shrugged. “You’re cuter.”

Yona rolled her eyes at him, but he saw the blush starting as she turned back to Tae-yeon.

“You didn’t just come to bring us a kitten, did you? You’ll stay and visit for a while, won’t you?”

Tae-yeon beamed even further. “Can I?”

“Of course!” Yona grinned, setting the kitten down to hug Tae-yeon again.

The kitten trotted over to Hak, nudging his leg with a paw, and he glanced down at her, frowning slightly.

Yona and Tae-yeon bounced out to the walk-through area between the main house area and the other two bedrooms, probably heading for the yard or the swing on the back porch. The swing had become one of Yona’s favorite spots to relax, and Tae-yeon would love it, too.

There was another knock at the door and Hak went to answer it, wondering who else was stopping by.

Tae-woo grinned at him from the front porch, a girl peeking around his shoulder shyly.

Hak blinked at them, and then gestured into the house. “Come on in.”

“Hak, this is Hinata,” Tae-woo said brightly as the girl extended a hand. “Hinata, this is my cousin, Hak.”

“Nice to meet you,” Hak grinned, taking Hinata’s hand and glancing at Tae-woo. “Someone finally puts up with you, huh?”

“You should talk,” Tae-woo snarked back, laughing. “Where is your wife, anyway? Did she leave you already?”

Hak waved a hand. “She’s outside with Tae-yeon.”

The kitten flounced up to him then, meowing loudly, and Tae-woo laughed. “I see he brought you a present.”

“And Yona loves it,” Hak sighed, leaning over to pick the kitten up. She batted his finger and climbed up to his shoulder, nuzzling his cheek.

“I think the kitten loves you,” Hinata giggled, smiling.

“Hak?”

Yona swept through the doorway, her dress swishing as she turned the corner, pausing when she noticed their guests.

“Oh! Tae-woo!”

“Hi, Yona,” Tae-woo grinned, reaching to hug her. “I wanted to introduce you to Hinata.”

The girls locked eyes and Hak knew they had become instant friends by the way Yona beamed and hugged Hinata, who smiled as well.

“It’s so wonderful to meet you!” Yona gushed, her eyes bright. “Mundok mentioned you at the wedding, and I was so looking forward to meeting you!”

“I wish I could have come, but I volunteered to stay and take care of Tae-yeon so that the others could go and see you,” Hinata smiled.

“Oh, how sweet of you!” Yona grinned, grabbing Hinata’s hand and pulling her through to the walkthrough. “Tae-yeon is outside, and I’m sure he’d love to see you.”

When they heard the outside door close behind the girls, Tae-woo asked, “So, how’s married life?”

“Fine,” Hak shrugged, the kitten jumping back down to the floor. “We’re figuring things out.”

“Eh?”

“Well, it’s not like there are people close by, or the boys to make trouble, or princess lessons or anything. We have to find other ways to stay busy. She talks a lot, away from home.”

“She talked a lot outside the castle, though, didn’t she?” Tae-woo asked, frowning.

“Yes, but it’s a little different out here. It’s like she feels even freer to talk out here, where nobody is around.”

“That’s not a bad thing, though, is it?”

“Oh, I’m not complaining,” Hak grinned. “It’s like a switch got flipped after the wedding and she’s ready to be queen finally. I’m sure King Il will be surprised when we get back and she actually _wants_ to talk politics and things.”

“Well, that’s good,” Tae-woo grinned. “Maybe you’ve had a better impact on her than I thought you would.”

Hak made a face, reaching to pull his cousin into a headlock.

Yona chose that moment to poke her head back in the room, and she tilted her head at him.

“Hak?” she asked, that curious lilt in her tone.

“Tae-woo thinks I’m a bad influence on you,” he explained, raising an eyebrow and not letting go of his cousin.

“Of course you’re not,” Yona laughed, dancing over and tugging at his arm. “Come sit with us!”

“Hm?” he asked, letting her pull him to the doorway, glancing at Tae-woo, who followed slowly with a grin.

The kitten followed them, prancing around their feet, and settled underneath the swing, falling asleep almost immediately.

Tae-yeon was dancing around outside, beaming, and Hinata waved to him with a smile.

Yona traipsed over to the swing, pulling him with her as Tae-woo joined Hinata on the small futon across from the swing, grinning.

Hak rolled his eyes at his cousin, and Yona observed, “Tae-woo, you never told me how you two met.”

“Ah, you don’t want to hear that!” Tae-woo protested, running a hand through his hair.

“Of course we do,” Yona insisted, smiling gently.

Hinata smiled back and offered, “I work in the kitchens at the Fuuga castle. Tae-woo wanders in a lot, and we tend to talk while I work.”

“Ohhh,” Hak grinned at Tae-woo. “I see. She feeds you, huh?”

He winked at Hinata, who flushed slightly but smiled back. “Sounds like a keeper.”

Yona smiled, looking to Tae-woo.

“What did Mundok say?”

“Huh?” Tae-woo asked, blinking as he registered her question. “Oh! Well, it seems you started a trend, Yona. Mundok—er, I actually asked Hinata if she would consider becoming queen someday.”

Yona’s eyes widened and she looked to Hinata, her eyes sparkling as Hinata flushed, staring at her hands.

Tae-woo grinned and grasped one of her hands, blurting, “We don’t have a date yet, but we’re getting married, too.”

Yona launched herself off the swing, rushing to catch them both in a hug. Hak heard the kitten screech as the swing moved and laughed as she scampered to the other side of the room.

“That’s so wonderful!” Yona declared, and Hak could hear the tears starting even as she beamed. “I’m so glad!”

Tae-woo laughed as Yona backed away, assuring her, “It was really thanks to you, you know. If you hadn’t defied tradition like you did, I’m not sure Gramps would have been so accepting.”

Yona blinked, a tear escaping her eye, and Hak tugged her gently back onto the swing, brushing the tear away.

“Don’t give her all the credit,” he said quickly. “I’m pretty sure Mundok was thinking about it before that. She just gave him the extra push he needed to bring it up.”

Tae-woo blinked at him, surprised, and Yona frowned at him for a moment before Tae-yeon bounded back through the door, beaming.

“Yona! Can I ride Ao?”

Yona considered him carefully, and Hak waited, watching her face.

“Only if I’m there to help you,” Yona decided, getting up from the swing and smiling brightly.

Tae-yeon beamed and Hak sighed, shoving a hand through his hair as Yona led the way outside to where Ao had been stabled since they’d gotten here, the servant having gone on to Fuuga on foot.

“Are you three going back to the castle tonight, or had you planned on sticking around?” he asked, glancing at Tae-woo, who shrugged.

“It is getting a little late to walk back before dark,” his cousin offered, raising an eyebrow. “That’s not a problem, is it?”

“No, no problem. I was thinking about going hunting anyway.”

Hak stood then, grabbing the bow and arrows from near the doorway, and headed outside, motioning to Yona, who nodded as she introduced Tae-yeon to Ao.

\--

They had deer that evening, Hinata trilling that she was impressed Hak had been able to shoot one so quickly. He shrugged, explaining that wildlife wandered around the cottage a lot, so it hadn’t been very hard.

They shared stories and laughter, Yona beaming at Hinata when the wedding was mentioned.

Tae-yeon pouted a little, still upset that he hadn’t been there, but Hinata reminded him that he’d been too sick to travel, and they wouldn’t have wanted him passing out at the wedding, anyway.

Tae-yeon agreed sleepily, his head bobbing toward his chest, and Yona smiled as she patted his head and suggested he go get ready for bed.

He mumbled a protest, but Hak picked him up easily, walking through to the other bedrooms and setting Tae-yeon on one of the beds, ruffling his hair.

“Good night, little brother.”

Tae-yeon was asleep before Hak even left the room, and he smiled as he rejoined the others in the living area.

Hinata looked sleepy, too, and Tae-woo sighed, prodding her with an elbow. “You had a long day. You should go to sleep, too.”

Hinata blinked bleary eyes and yawned, and Yona giggled a little, standing up and grasping the other girl’s hand to lead her to the other guest room.

When she came back, she flopped heavily onto the futon next to Hak, leaning against him with a yawn.

He glanced at her, used to the closeness by now, and didn’t bother suggesting she go to bed. She’d protest, and he could carry her later.

Tae-woo glanced at him curiously and Hak shrugged the shoulder that didn’t have Yona’s cheek pressed against it.

Tae-woo caught the message, a small smile on his face as he nodded in understanding, settling back into his chair.

“I really am happy for you, Hak,” his cousin said quietly, and Hak smiled back.

“And I’m happy for you. She seems like a nice girl.”

“Yeahh,” Tae-woo sighed, stretching and getting up from his seat. “How did we get so lucky?”

Hak grinned back, glancing down at Yona. “I really don’t know.”

“Good night, Hak,” Tae-woo yawned, waving as he headed for the porch.

“Good night,” Hak called back quietly, standing and pulling Yona into his arms, careful not to wake her. She tended to be a little crabby if he woke her too soon, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but he tried to avoid it anyway.

Carefully, he set her down on the bed, pulling the blankets over her gently.

He watched her for a moment, smiling as he went to make sure the doors had been properly locked before settling next to Yona for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk.   
> "Hinata" means "sunflower" and I thought it would fit.  
> I got the idea for the little house they're in from some floorplan website (or Pinterest). It's got the main area on one side, and then there's a covered porch off to the other side that separates the main area from two bedrooms and another bathroom. Thought it was cute, and kind of fitting for a honeymoon setup in case you get unexpected visitors like this.  
> Also I love kittens, and she'll get her name in the next chapter or so.


	9. New Beginnings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The honeymoon ends and it's time to go back to the castle and "real life."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO SORRY GUYS. SIX MONTHS????  
> Ugh. I just lost so much inspiration for this, and then I found a little, and then it vanished, and... Gah.  
> It's short, but it's sort of an ending??? It's something.

They said goodbye to Tae-yeon, Tae-woo, and Hinata in the morning, after a late breakfast.

Hinata had insisted she should get back to the kitchens at Fuuga castle, and Tae-woo had dragged a glum Tae-yeon out with them, assuring him that his tutors were waiting for him and it wouldn’t do to miss more lessons.

Yona sent them off with hugs and more waving than Hak thought was strictly necessary, but they’d been alone for close to a week, so of course she was sad to see company leave so soon.

“What would you like to do today?” he asked instead of complaining, wrapping an arm around Yona’s shoulder as she blinked up at him.

He knew that look, and stifled a sigh.

“You want to go home.”

Yona’s face crumpled into an apologetic smile and she assured him, “I love being here! I promise! I just… I miss Kouka. I miss my father, and the triplets, and I think I’m ready to really learn to lead the country.”

Hak smiled, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

“I wondered if you would feel that way.”

“You’re not mad?” Yona asked timidly, tilting her head at him.

“I asked the servant who brought us here to check with us tomorrow. I had a feeling you’d be ready to go home within a week.”

Tears gathered in Yona’s eyes as she hugged him tightly, and Hak nearly laughed.

“Thank you,” she muttered into his chest, and he grinned.

“What can I say? I know you well.”

Yona didn’t say anything in response to that, just hugged him tighter for a moment, releasing him to wipe her eyes and ask brightly, “So, what should we do today?”

They ended up settling on the porch swing after spending the day exploring the area around the cottage a final time, discovering a couple of spots they hadn’t seen earlier in the week.

Hak was quite comfortable, and likely could have stayed just like this for the rest of him life with no complaints.

“Chouko!” Yona said suddenly, grinning, and Hak blinked.

“What?”

“I want to name the kitten Chouko!” Yona explained excitedly, pointing to the yard.

Indeed, the kitten had cornered a couple of butterflies, and Hak frowned.

“Why Chou _ko_? Why not just Chou?”

Yona pouted at him.

“Because she’s kind of like a baby!”

His wife slipped off of the swing, ignoring his sigh of complaint, and stepped outside to collect the kitten.

She spun on her heel, dress twirling, and called, “Chouko!”

The kitten looked up, tilting her head, and bounded over to a beaming Yona.

“See? Chouko. It’s perfect,” Yona grinned as she joined him at the swing again.

She was looking at him so gleefully that he couldn’t very well say no.

“All right, if that’s what you’ve decided,” he sighed, setting a hand on Chouko’s head.

Yona settled back down next to him, hugging him with the arm that wasn’t cuddling the kitten, and he sighed.

The things he did for this girl.

\--

The next morning, when the servant knocked on the door, Yona flung the door open with a cheerful, “Good morning!” and nearly startled the poor guy right off the front step.

“G-good morning, Princess,” he replied cautiously, peering around Yona to look at Hak, who rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

“She’s ready to go home, Min-soo,” he told the young man with a grin.

“Um, yes, I see,” Min-soo replied slowly, still a bit wide-eyed as Yona stepped out around him to greet Ao, whom Hak had already hooked up to the carriage and left in the roadway outside the cottage.

“Have you had a good week?” Min-soo asked quickly, and Hak smiled as he let the younger man help him load their few bags into the carriage.

“Yes, it’s been a very good week.”

\--

As soon as they arrived back at Kouka Castle, Yona practically leapt from the carriage and ran to hug her brothers and her father.

Hak helped Min-soo unload their few bags, smiling as the boy insisted he would take the bags to their quarters.

Hak turned to watch his wife’s interactions with her family, and suddenly had a sense of family that he had not experienced since coming to Kouka.

Certainly, many of the servants and staff had become friends over his years here, and his family in Fuuga were not as far away as they could have been.

But now, with Yona as his wife and her family officially also his, there was a strange sense of almost completion welling within him.

Or perhaps it was a sense of new beginnings, he mused as Yona turned to smile brightly at him and beckoned him to join the group that had formed at their return.

Yona would soon tell her father of her desire to know the country and its history and people better so as to better be able to rule it one day, and Hak would take up a few more prince-ly duties as he was now technically another prince of Kouka.

But these were challenges they would face together, and they would face them well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CHOUKO 蝶子 f Japanese  
> From Japanese 蝶 (chou) "butterfly" and 子 (ko) "child".  
> I thought it was kind of appropriate. :) I think I've actually been planning that name since like chapter three or something, when I found a similar name for a pet for another fic I had been working on.
> 
> I had to put Min-soo somewhere!

**Author's Note:**

> I've been working on this for _months_ and am finally satisfied enough with parts of it to post chapters periodically. I've got what will probably end up being at least eight chapters written, I would guess, and most of them are already broken up. This thing is like a mini novel at 30-ish Word pages. How I managed that, I'll never really know.  
>  I hope you like it??


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